Titans Take Series with 6-4 Victory

Fullerton, Calif. - Corey Jones drove in three runs and Tyler Pill scored three times Saturday night to lead Cal State Fullerton to a 6-4 non-conference victory over Santa Clara.

The Titans, who won the Big West Conference championship outright when UC Irvine lost to UC Riverside Saturday afternoon, improved to 36-15 and won their tenth 3-game series in a row. The Broncos fell to 21-29.

Daniel Renken improved to 10-2 with 8 innings of work and Nick Ramirez pitched a perfect ninth for his eighth save in nine tries. Alex Rivers went the distance for Santa Clara but fell to 5-8.

Jones had a 2-run single in the first and an RBI single in the third and finished with 3 hits. Pill had a homer and a double..

Fullerton scored in the first inning for the eighth time in 10 games. Christian Colon doubled on the right-field chalk line and scored immediately on Carlos Lopez' single to center. Ramirez walked and Rivers threw errantly on Pill's sacrifice bunt to load the bases. Billy Marcoe hit into a 5-2-3 double play but Jones singled to center scored two.

Santa Clara scored with two out in the second when Ian O'Connor doubled down the left-field line and scored on Blake Leyva's single to center.

Fullerton countered in the bottom half as Joey Siddons beat out a bunt and moved around on a stolen base and two ground balls. The twilight sky helped make it 5-1 in the third as Pill's fly ball to left fell between left fielder Tommy Medica and shortstop Evan Peters for a double. Pill moved to third on a ground ball and scored when Jones' pop fly fell among three Broncos in short left-centerfield .

Santa Clara cut its 4-run deficit in half in the fourth after Ryan Rieger and Pat Stover singled to open the inning. Lucas Herbst sacrificed and Rieger scored on a single by O'Connor and Stover came home on Matt Ozanne's ground ball. The Broncos drew within one in the seventh but left two men in scoring position. Matt Ozanne walked, stole second and beat a throw to third from shortstop Colon, who had fielded a ground ball by Evan Peters. Ozanne scored on Tommy Medica's fly ball. Peters was thrown out stealing before Geoff Klein singled and Ryan Rieger dropped a bloop double into centerfield. Renken struck out Stover on a 3-2 pitch.

Again, Fullerton countered when Pill led off the bottom of the seventh with a long home run to right, his sixth of the year.

The third game of the series Sunday begins at 3:30 p.m. to avoid conflicting with Commencement Exercises.